A résumé check: Is Chuck Hagel up to the job? — There's not much on Chuck Hagel's résumé that screams secretary of defense. — He's not a former White House chief of staff, like Dick Cheney or Donald Rumsfeld. He never ran the CIA, like Leon Panetta or Robert Gates.

Chuck Hagel under fire at confirmation hearing — Chuck Hagel came under rapid fire from former senators at his confirmation hearings as secretary of defense on Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee. — He clashed with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a former friend and Vietnam veteran …

Geraldo contemplating run for Senate — Television personality and radio host Geraldo Rivera announced Thursday he's “truly contemplating” a run for Senate in New Jersey. — “I mention this only briefly, fasten your seatbelt,” Rivera said on his radio show.

Some Unions Grow Wary of Health Law They Backed — Labor unions enthusiastically backed the Obama administration's health-care overhaul when it was up for debate. Now that the law is rolling out, some are turning sour. — Union leaders say many of the law's requirements will drive …

Chinese Hackers Infiltrate New York Times Computers — SAN FRANCISCO — For the last four months, Chinese hackers have persistently attacked The New York Times, infiltrating its computer systems and getting passwords for its reporters and other employees. — After surreptitiously tracking …

Worth Reading — Here's a really meaty and interesting essay in the new and relaunched TNR about gun ownership and what gun owners want. What Gun Owners Really Want by Walter Kirn. — There's a lot there. But one point resonated with me because it's a flip side of something I was trying …

Idaho senator compares health exchange to Holocaust — BOISE - As the debate over Idaho Gov. Butch Otter's proposed state health insurance exchange heats up, a North Idaho senator has sent out a mass email and posted a message on Twitter comparing the role of insurance companies to …

The GOP Tips Its Hand — 9:45 — Sen. James Inhofe, the new ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee, has already penned a Washington Post op-ed which surprised no one by announcing that he'd vote against Hagel. Still, his opening remarks were interesting because they outlined …

Why We Took Cocaine Out of Soda — Social injustice and “a most wonderful invigorator of sexual organs” — 1894 ad for Vin Mariani, art by Jules Cheret — When cocaine and alcohol meet inside a person, they create a third unique drug called cocaethylene. Cocaethylene works like cocaine, but with more euphoria.

Marco Rubio's bad deal — In Washington, a new gang has been born. The Gang of Eight on immigration is here to tell us that we have succeeded in not enforcing the law so persistently and thoroughly that now we have to give up all pretense. — The Gang of Eight wants to amnesty …

Government is hurting the economy — by spending too little — You've heard this before: The government is holding the economy back. And it's true. The newly released numbers for economic growth in the fourth quarter, which show the economy shrinking at an 0.1 percent annual rate, prove that.

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